May/June 2021

Innovation Is Tied to Optimism

Author(s)3: Art Johnson
Innovation Is Tied to Optimism 150 150 IEEE Pulse
I wonder, when this coronavirus pandemic is finally behind us, if we will have seen a pause in the technological and social progress that had been happening at such a breakneck pace before the illness had spread throughout the world. I wonder if the attention that we have been forced to place on our own survival has stolen from our ability to innovate and create. This, despite the extra time that many of us have had to endure away from our jobs and normal activities, and the time that we would now have to dream up new ­possibilities. read more

Interested in Volunteering for EMBS? Here Are Two Students’ Exciting Experiences

Author(s)3: Josée Rosset, Jingzhi An, Satwik Dutta
Interested in Volunteering for EMBS? Here Are Two Students’ Exciting Experiences 150 150 IEEE Pulse

The IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS) is the world’s largest international society of biomedical engineers. Volunteering for IEEE EMBS can be an enriching experience for students. We…

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Can Coverscan Help COVID-19 Survivors?

Author(s)3: Wudan Yan
Can Coverscan Help COVID-19 Survivors? 2297 1304 IEEE Pulse
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, doctors and hospitals were overburdened from patients suffering from the immediate, acute effects of the virus. But as time went on, it turned out that even the patients who survived—or had mild symptoms and didn’t require hospitalization—weren’t fully recovered. read more

Finding New Ways To Treat Tremors

Author(s)3: David L. Chandler
Finding New Ways To Treat Tremors 524 349 IEEE Pulse
An estimated ten million people in the United States have a condition known as essential tremor (ET). Yet although it’s been recognized for over a century—it was originally known as senile tremor—there is relatively little awareness of it as a distinct medical condition. Sometimes mistaken for Parkinson’s disease, ET can lead to shaking of the arms and hands, and sometimes the head or torso. When severe, it can interfere with eating or drinking, writing, dressing, and even make some tasks impossible. Now, new approaches for treating the condition are emerging, potentially offering options to many patients whose life activities have been curtailed by ET. read more

The PACE of Change

Author(s)3: Jim Banks
The PACE of Change 2121 1414 IEEE Pulse
At a time when a global vaccine program is being rolled out at unprecedented speed, the world is more aware than ever before of the wonders of medical science. There are, however, many diseases that remain beyond the reach of modern medicine and the potency of some of our most widely used therapies are waning. read more

Fighting COVID-19 With Lung-Chips

Author(s)3: Mary Bates
Fighting COVID-19 With Lung-Chips 2560 1213 IEEE Pulse
The novel coronavirus is a new kind of enemy. Now, the United States Army has added a cutting-edge tool to its arsenal to better understand this threat: “organs-on-chips” that recapitulate the microarchitecture and function of living human lungs. read more

Medical Care in the Digital Era

Author(s)3: Leslie Mertz
Medical Care in the Digital Era 2309 1299 IEEE Pulse
Electronic health records (EHRs), virtual office visits, and health-related apps are priming the path toward a future vision of medical care in the digital age. That future includes streamlining patient-provider interactions, making good use of the wealth of collected data, and ultimately improving all levels of care from prevention to diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes. read more

The RADxSM Tech Process: Accelerating Innovation for COVID-19 Testing

The RADxSM Tech Process: Accelerating Innovation for COVID-19 Testing IEEE Pulse
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for rapid and accurate diagnostic testing across populations quickly became evident. In response, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) was determined not only to invest heavily in this area but to change the process by which grant proposals were reviewed and funded in order to spur faster development of viable technologies. The Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) initiative was designed to speed innovation, commercialization, and implementation of potential COVID-19 diagnostic technology. read more

The RADxSM Tech Process: Accelerating Innovation for COVID-19 Testing

The RADxSM Tech Process: Accelerating Innovation for COVID-19 Testing IEEE Pulse
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for rapid and accurate diagnostic testing across populations quickly became evident. In response, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) was determined not only to invest heavily in this area but to change the process by which grant proposals were reviewed and funded in order to spur faster development of viable technologies. The Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) initiative was designed to speed innovation, commercialization, and implementation of potential COVID-19 diagnostic technology. read more